You may tend to blame an illness on someone's errant sneeze or contaminated handshake.

But it could have been something you ate. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are more than 250 different food-related maladies out there waiting to drop down your gullet.

But if you live in Baltimore, our top-ranked city, your stomach can rest easy. Baltimore has managed to avoid major outbreaks of foodborne diseases despite its obsession with seafood--a common culprit for illness. Citizens of last-place Lubbock, however, should order their Texas steaks well done--the city has seen more foodborne-illness outbreaks per capita than any other on our list.

We arrived at our ratings by looking at data compiled by the Community Health Status Indicator Project to determine outbreaks of E. coli–, salmonella-, and shigella-related infections, three of the most common foodborne bugs. Then we checked the CDC's Wonder database to see how many people died from tainted food. Finally, we found out which states have adopted the current version of the FDA's uniform Food Code, which contains the most up-to-date rules for keeping restaurant kitchens clean.

1. Baltimore, MD A+

2. St. Louis, MO A+

3. Richmond, VA A+

4. Pittsburgh, PA A+

5. Tacoma, WA A

6. Virginia Beach, VA A

7. Chesapeake, VA A

8. Plano, TX A-

9. Arlington, TX B+

10. Fort Worth, TX B+

11. St. Petersburg, FL B+

12. Riverside, CA B+

13. Fort Wayne, IN B

14. Lexington, KY B

15. Las Vegas, NV B

16. Dallas, TX B-

17. Garland, TX B-

18. Colorado Springs, CO B-

19. Boise, ID B-

20. Jersey City, NJ B-

21. Washington, DC B-

22. Detroit, MI B-

23. Indianapolis, IN B-

24. Des Moines, IA B-

25. Norfolk, VA B-

26. Birmingham, AL C+

27. Wichita, KS C+

28. Raleigh, NC C+

29. Sacramento, CA C+

30. Louisville, KY C+

31. Greensboro, NC C+

32. Durham, NC C+

33. Laredo, TX C+

34. Tulsa, OK C+

35. Shreveport, LA C+

36. Toledo, OH C+

37. New Orleans, LA C

38. Honolulu, HI C

39. Fresno, CA C

40. Columbus, OH C

41. Anaheim, CA C

42. Akron, OH C

43. Spokane, WA C

44. Memphis, TN C

45. Miami, FL C

46. Bakersfield, CA C

47. Buffalo, NY C

48. Portland, OR C

49. Houston, TX C

50. Charlotte, NC C

51. Mesa, AZ C-

52. Phoenix, AZ C-

53. Scottsdale, AZ C-

54. Seattle, WA C-

55. Grand Rapids, MI C-

56. Kansas City, MO C-

57. Nashville, TN C-

58. Cincinnati, OH C-

59. Little Rock, AR C-

60. San Antonio, TX C-

61. Long Beach, CA C-

62. Los Angeles, CA C-

63. Madison, WI C-

64. New York, NY C-

65. Newark, NJ C-

66. Orlando, FL C-

67. Aurora, CO C-

68. Atlanta, GA C-

69. Milwaukee, WI D+

70. Philadelphia, PA D+

71. Providence, RI D+

72. El Paso, TX D+

73. Anchorage, AK D+

74. Tampa, FL D+

75. St. Paul, MN D+

76. Minneapolis, MN D+

77. Modesto, CA D+

78. Albuquerque, NM D+

79. Omaha, NE D+

80. Oklahoma City, OK D+

81. Montgomery, AL D+

82. Austin, TX D

83. Baton Rouge, LA D

84. San Diego, CA D

85. Denver, CO D

86. Chicago, IL D

87. Rochester, NY D

88. Stockton, CA D

89. San Jose, CA D

90. Salt Lake City, UT D

91. Yonkers, NY D

92. Jacksonville, FL D

93. Lincoln, NE D

94. Fremont, CA D-

95. Oakland, CA D-

96. Tucson, AZ D-

97. Cleveland, OH D-

98. Corpus Christi, TX F

99. San Francisco, CA F

100. Boston, MA F

101. Lubbock, TX F

You can check up on a restaurant by barging into the kitchen. Or go to spiesonline.net and click on "Restaurant Inspection" for a listing of state health department websites, where you will find either a direct link to city restaurant inspection reports or contact information so that you can request a report. A restaurant's inspection score doesn't tell the whole story, so focus on the severe violations, often highlighted at the end of the report.

CLEANUP TIME

Food-inspection rules vary so much that the FDA is trying to get all states to use a uniform rule book. The Food Code has been adopted by 45 states, but not all use the most recent version, written in 2001.

Go to www.cfsan.fda.gov/~ear/fcadopt.html#adopt/ to find a link to the list of states and what version of the code they've adopted. If your state isn't on board with the latest version, contact the state health department and ask why.

Locally, inspectors can dig up the most dirt by talking to employees--something that's not always done. Ask your local health department to use this commonsense tactic.

east tx skier

11-02-2005, 10:50 AM

Houston has kept Marvin Zindler well employed for years with its C rating. Knock wood, haven't picked up one of these beauts living in cities low on the list.

jimmer2880

11-02-2005, 06:24 PM

A friend of mine just retired after being a food inspector for many years. There are many restaurants I won't eat at after speaking to him.

For what it's worth, there is 1 chineese & 1 mexican place he'll eat at in my town. The rest, he won't even give their food to his dog.